Today, His Royal Highness Prince of Wales, Honorary Air Commandant at RAF Coningsby, visited the Station to learn about future technological innovations and open a new Boxing Club.
During the visit, His Royal Highness spent time in the Air Traffic Control Centre to hear about ‘Project Marshall’, a multi-billion-pound equipment upgrade programme of air traffic control radar services across Lincolnshire. Whilst in the centre, His Royal Highness met working personnel and engaged with new radar displays and control systems that have been put in place to improve efficiency and elevate data sharing.
Following this, The Prince visited the BAE Systems Typhoon Maintenance Facility (TMF). The site, which has been open for over a decade, specialises in longer term maintenance of Typhoon jets and focuses on delivering faster turnaround times to ensure that more planes are readily available for front-line use at any given time.
When His Royal Highness was in TMF, he met maintenance staff and listened to talks on the transformative technologies which are currently being explored by the Royal Air Force and BAE Systems. The new technologies, if put in place, will allow jet support to be carried out in a smarter and faster way through innovative solutions including exoskeletons and Augmented Reality (AR) headsets which will further increase the speed of aircraft maintenance and availability of front-line Typhoon fighter jets.
The Prince officially opened the new RAF Coningsby Boxing Club. The club is situated in the heart of the RAF base and creates a central place where personnel can go to exercise and box. Whilst at the club he met RAF Coningsby’s Women’s football Club and personnel from Project Delapsus which is a new scheme to bring a mobile gym to different sections on the Station.
“His Royal Highness - The Prince of Wales has long been an advocate of sport and clearly understands the vital impact it has on supporting the health and wellbeing of serving personnel. Our charity is therefore extremely honoured that he has been able to see first-hand the support we provide at a Station level and meet some of our beneficiaries. The Boxing Club at RAF Coningsby is one of our most recent grant recipients, enabling its members to convert a dedicated space into a safe and secure training environment with all the equipment needed to do their chosen sport.” Ross Perriam, CEO of the RAF Central Fund.
Before his departure, The Prince carried out a short walkabout with RAF families who live locally.
“It was a pleasure to host His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales today as he met personnel across many areas of Station activity. We are incredibly grateful to Prince William for the enduring support he shows to our personnel and their families. The Prince once again demonstrated his interest in our activities both here and overseas as we safeguard the nation.” Group Captain Billy Cooper, Station Commander
“I was honoured to invite His Royal Highness to open the new boxing centre that we have developed here with the help of the Royal Air Force Central Fund. This great facility provides personnel at Coningsby and the wider RAF Lincolnshire region with a secure environment to improve their fitness, discipline, and self-confidence, as well as building a sense of community and camaraderie.” Wing Commander James Poynton, Officer Commanding Base Support Wing
“It's just a once in a lifetime opportunity. He was very interested in how I was getting on and it was a great experience. he just asked a bit about recent history and deployment and stuff like that. I think he appreciated and acknowledged it's a complex job and it was nice to have that little recognition as well. I also managed to shoehorn that my wife is pregnant, so I got a bit of a royal announcement of the birth coming from my wife and I.” Sergeant Richard Griffiths
